Professional and personal demands on one's time have increased significantly during the last century with consequent difficulties in a person's ability to manage time effectively in order to comply with personal and professional obligations and duties. For example, the need to pay bills in a timely manner is imperative, given the significant ramifications of late payment with respect to credit reporting agencies and resulting difficulties that may be entailed due to tardy receipt by creditors of payments. Moreover, the ability to remember important dates with respect to birthdays, anniversaries and significant events in a person's life requires an effective system for noting such events in a manner that quickly and easily makes the recollection of such events a relatively simple function. While all members of the public are subject to faulty memories with respect to important events, children learning to coordinate their schedules independent of their parents could benefit greatly from a simple device and method that does not require special skills (e.g. the ability to use a personal computer, personal directory, time-keeping entry books, etc.). Similarly, given the advance of the "baby-boomers" into middle and old age, there is an increasing need for a simple and effective method to facilitate the recollection of events in a person's life that may have severe consequences if missed. For example, the onset of senility, Alzheimer's disease, etc. can exacerbate the frailties of human memory capabilities and can lead to significant problems if, for example, doctor or dentist appointments are missed, special family events are not attended or if insurance payments are not made by a specified date. The ability to avoid late charges for overdue debt obligations would reduce significantly the amount of money each individual must outlay in any given period of time. Late charges for overdue rental videos significantly contribute to the bottom line of many video rental organizations and thus, having a simple and effective method and device for recalling when particular video tapes are due would significantly reduce individual expenditures for such items.
There is, therefore, a long-felt but unsolved need for a simple and effective device and method for assisting individuals in recalling important events without the requirement that individuals be specifically trained on the use of computer devices and/or time diaries.